Najee Harris has been with the Pittsburgh Steelers for four years. He is joining the Los Angeles Chargers in the offseason – and is now speaking critically about his former team.

Running back Najee Harris came into the NFL in 2021 as a first-round pick and with high expectations. The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Harris in the 24th spot in the draft, and he had previously put up strong numbers at Alabama.

His four years with the Steelers were then marked by consistency, with him breaking the 1,000-yard mark in all four seasons. In addition, he did not miss a single game due to injury. Harris was reliable, even though he lacked the necessary momentum.

This is one of the reasons why Pittsburgh decided not to exercise the fifth-year option for the running back last year. As a result, his contract expired after the 2024 season and he became a free agent. He recently signed with the Los Angeles Chargers.

However, he has now spoken out again about his time in Pittsburgh – and criticized the offense there. Especially after the retirement of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, with whom Harris had played for one year, the team had not managed to develop a new offensive game plan.

“It was just a team where we lost Ben, we lost the O-line, we just didn’t know anything about the offense, we had no identity,” he told KCAL News.

Harris sought help from defensive players

For Roethlisberger, Mitch Trubisky initially took over in the 2022 season, but the Steelers switched to rookie Kenny Pickett early on. With Pickett, the Steelers missed the playoffs in 2022. A year later, they did qualify for the postseason, but were eliminated in the first game.

“We had a young guy coming in at quarterback. I was young. The team was young. I really didn’t have anybody to learn from on offense. I think the veteran on this team was a veteran with two, three years of experience,” Harris looked back. The running back even sought help from the defensive players.

For the past season, the Steelers signed Justin Fields and Russell Wilson, but the team again failed to produce an explosive offense – despite the new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Pittsburgh made the playoffs thanks largely to their defense, but were knocked out in the first round.

At San Diego, 27-year-old Harris sees himself in a much better position. “I feel like we have a lot of veterans that I can learn from, even at the quarterback position and on the offensive line,” he says.